Chapter 102, Heading to the Source of the Voice

The old cultivator from the Divine Trade Association had said that this bell was one of the best Low-Grade artifacts, which went to show that it was of high quality. Lu Ye had no idea how artifacts were categorized, but after some comparison, he realized that there was more than one layer of restriction in this bell.

His sword could be considered an artifact, but there was only one layer of restriction which seemed able to strengthen the blade so that it wouldn’t break easily when its owner fought against his opponents. The restriction in the sword was actually a Spiritual Pattern. When this sword was forged, the bladesmith used an amazing technique and engraved the Spiritual Pattern inside the blade.

When Lu Ye battled against his opponents, he just had to infuse his Spiritual Power into the blade to activate this Spiritual Pattern, so he didn’t have to build it from scratch. Fundamentally, it was like using Sharp Edge to bless the sword, but the difference was that the blessing was only temporary, while the Spiritual Pattern in the blade was permanent. He just had to infuse his Spiritual Power into the blade to use it.

There was more than one Spiritual Pattern in the bell. He found out about it when infusing his Spiritual Power into it. The Spiritual Patterns were weaved together using a brilliant technique, which then formed the so-called restriction. He understood that Spiritual Patterns were the foundation of restriction. Every Spiritual Pattern could be regarded as a layer of restriction, but these patterns could be combined in a remarkable manner, which allowed them to work wonders.

It had only been a short time since he started cultivating, and he had obtained his Spiritual Patterns from the Skill Tree, so he wasn’t familiar with all these yet. He wasn’t even sure whether he understood this information correctly. This stuff could be studied at a later time. For now, he just had to inject his Spiritual Power into the bell to nurture it as well as erase the traces of its previous owner. By then, he’d be able to use the bell freely.

During the day, he would look for Amber and Yi Yi. At night, he would cultivate diligently. Time flew as seven to eight days had passed, but he still hadn’t found them.

He believed that it must have been Yi Yi who told Amber to head to the waterfall. In that case, they must be aware that he had plunged into the lake. If they wanted to look for him, they must have been looking around near the river.

However, Amber was severely injured, so it must have hidden somewhere to recuperate first. Nevertheless, Lu Ye had looked around for 100 kilometers in the past few days, but he still couldn’t find any useful leads. At that moment, he wasn’t sure where he should go.

Two days later, they were still nowhere to be found. Lu Ye was crestfallen. Although it had only been a short time since he, Yi Yi, and Amber came together, they had been getting along well. The fact that he could ride on the tiger’s back to move around saved him lots of time and energy. He could even cultivate while heading to his next destination, which was immensely beneficial to him.

If Amber wasn’t around when he was hunted down by Dong Shu Ye, he would’ve been captured. It could be said that the tiger had saved his life. Therefore, he was determined to look for his companions. 

Since they had set off on the journey together, they had to reach the end together. He wouldn’t want to abandon the companions who had saved his life before.

Under the night sky, Lu Ye wielded the sword in his hand as he was covered in sweat. At the same time, he was pondering where he should search the next day. He had a 10-point map with him, so he was fully aware of whether a place had been searched. While he was trying to come up with a plan, he heard a roar coming from the forest. He abruptly stopped what he was doing and listened carefully.

A moment later, another roar was heard, and it sounded familiar to Lu Ye. It was Amber! Hurriedly, he sheathed his sword and charged towards the source. Shocked by his move, the birds shot into the air.

Tiger roars were heard more frequently. It seemed that Amber was battling against some people. As the gap shortened, Lu Ye could faintly feel the fluctuations of Spiritual Powers coming from that place. There were cultivators who were in a scuffle with Amber!

Lu Ye felt his heart sinking as he didn’t understand what was going on. Amber was indeed weak, but with the help of Yi Yi, most low-rank cultivators wouldn’t dare to go near the tiger. When he was on Green Cloud Mountain, he saw how Yi Yi and Amber cooperated and scared off the low-rank cultivators.

For low-rank cultivators, it was impossible to offend a Spirit Beast that could speak Human language. However, presently, some cultivators were attacking Amber. Were they powerful?

At the thought of this, Lu Ye became increasingly anxious. If it weren’t because he had no more Move With the Wind talisman papers left, he would’ve fished out one and used it on himself. Before he reached his destination, the tiger stopped roaring, and no noises were heard coming from the location of the battle again, which made Lu Ye feel flustered as he wondered what was going on.

After going up the mountain, he stopped in his tracks and tried to curb his panting. Then, he fished out a Breathing Curbing talisman paper from his Storage Bag and used it on himself. At that instant, his breathing was covered up.

He had never used this talisman paper before, so he had no idea how long it could last. However, he reckoned that it would lose its effect pretty quickly. Therefore, after hiding his breathing, he hurriedly shuffled forward in silence.

A moment later, he emerged from the edge of the disorderly battlefield. His figure was hidden in the darkness. After a glance, he saw the snowy white Amber.

Under the night sky, the stout Amber seemed to be intoxicated as it staggered and repeatedly shook its head. The tiger was threatening them by growling at them, but there was something wrong with its voice, as though something had been tied around its neck, which made its voice become hoarse. There was indeed something that looked like a collar which radiated a faint Spiritual Light that had been wrapped around the tiger’s neck. It was an artifact.

Lu Ye narrowed his eyes and quickly looked around. There were five cultivators in total, four men and one woman, who were all separated by a distance of 30 meters as they surrounded Amber.

Secretly, Lu Ye directed his Spiritual Power into his eyes and examined their Spiritual Lights. Soon, he found out their cultivation bases. There was one Fifth-Order cultivator, one Fourth-Order cultivator, and three Third-Order cultivators. The woman was the Fourth-Order cultivator. Presently, she was performing a hand seal with one hand as her Spiritual Power swirled around her.

The Fifth-Order cultivator was a young man in black clothes. All of a sudden, he said, “Relax your grip on the Beast Taming Collar. If the tiger is killed, it’ll become useless.”

“Got it,” the woman replied and used a different hand seal. A Spiritual Light glowed on the collar around Amber, whereupon the collar became looser.

Heavy panting was heard as Amber leaped into the air and pounced on the Third-Order cultivator nearest to it. While it was in mid-air, the collar around its neck shone again. Amber seemed to have lost control as it fell onto the ground. The collar seemed able to suppress the tiger.

Seeing that, the Third-Order cultivator sneered. “This beast is weak, but it’s pretty hot-tempered.”

The woman snorted. “The tiger is weak, but the three of you still obediently gave it your Storage Bags.”

The Third-Order cultivator who spoke earlier became embarrassed and refuted, “Senior Sister Yu, please stop teasing us. We didn’t expect that this beast had a Ghost Spirit. They joined forces to frighten us!”

Another Third-Order cultivator nodded repeatedly. “That’s right. At that time, Junior Brother Xiong almost pissed on his trousers.”

“Bullshit!” The last Third-Order cultivator curse. “I didn’t.”

Senior Sister Yu put on a smile. “Senior Brother Zhou is indeed intelligent. After hearing about this incident, he immediately realized that something was off. Otherwise, we would’ve missed such a Spirit Beast. It already has a Ghost Spirit when it’s still weak. If we can properly nurture it, this beast might grow to be extremely powerful.”